Declaration of safe space
The Wasatch Tango Club is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable event experience for everyone, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, or religion or lack thereof. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form, in person, or online. Sexual language, imagery, and invitations in social situations is not appropriate for any event venue, including milongas, workshops, practicas, and online forums including Facebook groups and pages. Violations of these rules may result in being warned, suspended, expelled without a refund, or banned by the organizers.
Code of Conduct details
No forms of harassment will be tolerated. Harassment includes offensive verbal comments (related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion), sexual language, images, or invitations in public spaces or online, inappropriate behavior creating hostile social environment and deliberate intimidation, vulgar conduct, profanity, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of workshops or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention and objectification. We fully expect our officers and directors, organizers, instructors, volunteers, and any tangueros in the position of authority, to maintain high standards of honesty and integrity, and to scrupulously avoid any quid pro quo such as implied or expressed promise of reward for complying with a sexually oriented request, or implied or expressed threat of reprisal (or actual reprisal) for refusal to comply with a sexually oriented request. It is important to understand that inappropriate behavior between community members may also create a hostile environment for the others who were not actually the direct target of the behavior. For example, excessive displays of romantic attention frequently turn the social environment hostile for the past romantic partners of the transgressors. If a person engaged in sexual misconduct or creating hostile environment is an officer or director of the club, then one’s behavior automatically reflects on the whole community and must be confronted with special urgency.
If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the event organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the event with no refund. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. The organizers should offer further assistance to those experiencing harassment to help them feel safe for the duration of the event
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact the Club management, the organizers or the event staff immediately, in person, through Facebook message, by email, or using the contact form (where you don’t have to provide your real name or email if you wish to remain anonymous)
Essential specific rules of tango etiquette
Tango is a beautiful, spiritually pure and liberating form of creative expression and connectedness, but it also a sensual dance and a product of a historically macho culture, fraught with the possibilities of gender inequality and sexual harassment. Over a century of its existence, the tango community hammered down its specific rules of etiquette which are essential for fostering safe social environment for the dancers.
Cabeceo (invitation from a distance by a “silent agreement” of an eye contact and a nod) is the most important element of proper tango etiquette. Cabeceo ensures that the tango dancers never face the awkward choice between accepting an unwanted dance and openly rejecting another dancer in one’s face. Failure to learn, and use, cabeceo may result in intimidating social environment.
Tanda rule. A couple dances together until the end of one tanda (set) (except when something extraordinary makes it necessary to stop early), but not for multiple tandas. By following the tanda rule, the dancers avoid the awkward task of deciding how many dances with the same partner was too many. It makes the social environment more safe.
The distance between the dancers, and the extent of their body contact, can’t be closer than what’s comfortable for both dancers. If the upper body contact is too close for you, than it’s your choice to adopt a more open stance, and you partner’s responsibility to respect your choice. Leg contact is acceptable in the more contemporary styles of tango, and it also requires acceptance by both partners, and absolutely can’t be forced on anyone. Lower body contact is unacceptable in all major styles of tango.
There are other important etiquette rules concerning floorcraft, hygiene, thanks and apologies, etc. But none are as important for the ethical and safe environment as the above 3.
If an event participants’ repeated disregard of proper etiquette creates intimidating or hostile social environment, then we reserve the right to warn or eject the participant.